Learning To Breathe Again
Somewhere along the way, I forgot to breathe! Sounds ludicrous doesn’t it, but perhaps this is what caused a decline in my wellbeing recently…
“Life Is 10% What Happens To Us And 90% How We Breathe Through It!”
Rebecca Dennis
I spoke in my last newsletter about a recent illness, and how I was left wondering whether this was due to a decline in my mental and emotional health, rather than just the physical:
Well, this week, I was reminded of the remarkable effect our breathing can have on our health and happiness, as I sank back into the fascinating pages of the book, “And Breathe” by Rebecca Dennis.
I devoured it, cover to cover… I was fascinated by the science behind it… I was changed by it… and then, at some point, I forgot it all…
Until last week when I sat down to do a short meditation, and as I was gently instructed to focus on my breath, I realised, I haven’t been breathing lately… I mean consciously breathing!
And so my breathing pattern had reverted to shallow, discreet and ‘just’ keeping me alive, rather than the thriving, quenching, breath of nourishment and wellbeing…
Sounds a little over-the-top doesn’t it?
How can an automatic function that we do around 20,000 times a day, every single day of our lives be any more than the ventilation of existence?
Well trust me, before I read this book I thought the same, but I soon learned that the breath is SO much more than that:
It can make the difference between good and bad mental and emotional health…
It can reduce stress and anxiety…
It can relieve depression…
It can help us sleep…
It can benefit our physical health; increase energy, aid digestion, relieve muscle tension, help with asthma, headaches…
It can reduce our cortisol levels (the stress hormone that triggers that ‘fight or flight’ response)…
It can positively affect our blood pressure…
It can raise our subconscious…
It can bring peace and calm to our minds and bodies…
And can even help to release deep, withheld emotions and trauma…
This little thing that we do every minute of every day of our lives!
“When you change the way you breathe, you change something fundamental in your whole physiology.
You can change your state from feeling anxious to calm, scattered to focused, even from tired to more energised.
In short, you can rewire your nervous system and supercharge your mind! Breathwork provides you with a lifelong set of tools to use every day to help navigate your way through life and even transform it if you want to.”
Rebecca Dennis
Do you ever stop and notice your breath?
Try it now - here are a couple of exercises to get you started:
“Breath Awareness Exercise”
Close your eyes and inhale through your nose.
Release the exhale through your mouth.
Notice how the breath feels as it comes in through your nose and out of your mouth.
Keep practising this four or five times, and rather than being the breather, become the observer.
Take note of how your body feels. Is it relaxed or does it feel tense?
Can you feel any tightness or restriction?
Is the breath flowing in and out?
What muscles do you notice working as you breathe?
Is it easy to inhale or exhale?”
(There is no right or wrong here, so try to just take notice and not judge.)
“Are You A Belly Breather Or A Chest Breather?”
Sitting up, keep your spine straight.
Relax your shoulders, try not to hunch them.
Close your eyes.Take a deep inhale through your nose and exhale through your nose.
Repeat two to three times.
Now, place one hand on your belly and the other hand on your chest. Breathing in and out through your nose.
Notice where you can feel the breath more, in your chest or your belly?
Wherever you can feel it more indicates your dominant breathing pattern.
I’m a shallow chest breather!
I notice more movement in my upper chest than my belly (darn those formative school years when I became conscious of belly fat and worked hard to suck in that stomach!)
This type of breathing can cause tension in the upper back and shoulders and is common in people with high levels of anxiety… (Ahhh of course! I may have mentioned once or twice that I struggle with anxiety!?)
Rebecca states, “If you breathe in the upper chest, you can be an overthinker who spends a lot of time in your head”!
YES! OVER HERE! THIS IS ME!! (I may also have mentioned once or twice how much time I spend in my head!?)
Shallow breathing is as it says on the tin, the breath isn’t very visible and doesn’t create much movement…
Often, shallow breathing becomes present if we’re stressed or depressed, if we’re lacking sleep, are experiencing parenting strain (tick, tick, tick and tick!), or if we’re in pain, as we try to avoid aggravating the pain.
Shallow breathing can affect our immune system; it can lower our white blood cells, reducing the body’s defence system!
Now this is something I need to work on, as my current chemo medication is already doing a sterling job of reducing my immunity, opening the doors to every cough, cold and winter virus doing the rounds!
I need to do all I can to help my body defend itself.
I’ve been looking in the direction of nutrition, but not my breath…
So, I’ve discovered that breath-holding can considerably increase our white blood cell count, and therefore, improve immunity.
So here is one breathing exercise I’m going to incorporate into my habitual routine:
“Deep Belly Breaths With Breath Hold”
Sit comfortably.
Close your eyes and tune into your breath.
Inhale deeply through your nose then exhale without pausing or forcing through your mouth.Fully inhale through your belly then chest and then let the breath go.
Hold your breath by holding your nose on the inhale and start to roll your head back and forth and sideways for a few seconds (this helps to unblock the nose for nasal breathing).
Repeat twice.Exhale and inhale again deeply and fully.
Inhale and exhale in short powerful bursts 10 to 15 times.
Inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.
At the bottom of the final exhale close your mouth and hold your breath for as long as it feels comfortable.
When your body wants to inhale inhale and then exhale.Repeat the whole cycle three to four times.
NOTE: This exercise is best done first thing in the morning or on an empty stomach, and if you feel light-headed try doing this lying down.
It is NOT recommended if you are pregnant.
In addition to the immunity-reducing-chemo drugs, part of my cancer treatment involved a full lymph node clearance of my right side!
The lymphatic system works in partnership with the immune system to remove toxins from the body and protect us from viruses and other health threats, but I now have no lymph nodes down my right arm.
However, I’ve learnt that 60% of our lymph nodes are situated in the diaphragm! This is a dome-shaped muscle that sits just below the lungs and above the belly.
When you breathe in, the diaphragm contracts and compresses, and then when you breathe out it will expand.
It stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, reduces stress and anxiety, can lower blood pressure and aid digestion, but it can also stimulate the lymphatic system!
So deep belly breaths will improve my diaphragmatic breathing, and improve my lymphatic functioning in other areas of my body to hopefully counterbalance the lymph nodes that were stolen from my right armpit!
My breath, my mind and me
I notice a huge shift in my mental and emotional state when I practice breathing exercises.
I become more grounded, feel calmer, more resilient, more aware, and I believe it’s one thing that has dramatically helped me to reduce symptoms and recurrences of depression.
I’ve used it to reduce my anxiety and even manage anxiety attacks!
Read more about that here:
When I’m nervous, for example when I’m due to give a talk, I’ll always do a few minutes of deep breathing because focused, low belly breaths help to get oxygen to my brain, increasing dopamine levels, enhancing alertness, focus and concentration, and regulating the parasympathetic nervous system, signalling to my body that all is well, and it can ‘stand down’, (I’m standing in front of a group of people, not an ambush of tigers!)
“Box Breathing For Calm And Focus”
Close your eyes.
Breathe in and out through your nose.
Practise using deep diaphragmatic breath.Relax your shoulders and jaw.
Begin to slowly inhale and expand your belly for four seconds.
Hold your breath for four seconds and relax into the hold.
Gently let the exhale go and contract your belly for four seconds.
Hold your breath for four seconds and relax into the hold.
Repeat at least six times.
The science
This is not just hearsay, there’s increasing scientific research behind the positive effects breathing exercises can have on our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.
Our breath is responsible for releasing 70% of the toxins from our body!
We can survive without food for over a month, and without water for three days, yet we can only survive a few minutes without breathing!
Deep breathing increases intestinal functioning and encourages digestion by increasing blood flow to the digestive tract which can alleviate irritable bowel syndrome.
Deep diaphragmatic breaths keep our major internal organs healthy!
Research studies have shown that people who had suffered heart attacks were often chest breathers, and those who took part in breathing exercises following a heart attack reduced their risk of recurrence by 50%!The breath can be a significant tool to overcome mental ill health, like depression and anxiety because altering the depth, rate and rhythm of our breath can change our chemistry!
We all think about breathing as something that just happens… and yes it does, from our first breath to our last it continuously works without fail (I mean how many machines can do that consistently for 80, 90 even 100 years!)
And yet, our breath is such an incredible tool that can help and support us through practically any experience in life!
So, I have a plan … my days are now going to be bookended by my breath.
Every day, I am going to start the day with “The Complete Breath” and end the day with “The Simple 4-7-8 exercise”:
“The Complete Breath”
Stand up straight with your arms by your sides and your feet flat on the ground.
Relax your body, jaw and shoulders.Soften your focus.
Gently push your abdominals out as you inhale through your nose for a count to five and lift your arms.Hold for a count of five, relax into the hold, then slowly exhale through your nose, contracting the belly and lowering your arms.
At the end of the exhalation, pull your abdominals in and up which will push stale air from the base of your lungs.
Hold your breath for four counts.
Then push your abdominals out and inhale againRepeat 10 times.
This one gives you good quenching deep breaths to wake you up in the morning, sets a little intention for your day, a miniature meditation, easy movement to wake up your body and get the blood flowing, AND a little workout for the tummy muscles! It’s a win-win (…win…win…win)!
“The Simple 4-7-8 exercise”
Exhale completely through your mouth, making a “whoosh” sound.
Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose for a count of four.
Hold your breath for a count of seven.
Exhale completely through your mouth, making a “whoosh” sound to a count of eight.
Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times.
This is also great if you wake up in the night and can’t get back to sleep (like many of us menopausal women)!
“If I Had To Limit My Advice On Healthy Living To Just One Tip, It Would Be Simply To Learn How To Breathe Correctly.”
Doctor Andrew Weil
It’s a tool that is always available to us.
We don’t need any special equipment…
We don’t need any space or specific environments…
Just a little conscious effort… and practice!
Take care and much love,
Julie x
Supporting information for this post and the breathing exercises included have been gathered from the following sources:
Dennis, R. (2016) And breathe. London: Orion Spring.
Dennis, R. (2021) Let it go. London: Happy Place Books.
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I'm not sure why I get just a smidge anxious or impatient sometimes just trying breathing exercises. Seems weird, right? But I love that you shared some here and maybe I'll give it try again.